Bonesology Summer 2017 Weekly Fic challenge
by Dukefan1982
Summary: This story is going to be one shots written from the prompts posted at Bonesology in their weekly summer fic challenge. Mostly Booth & Brennan one shots, but others may appear.
1. Chapter 1

This story is going to be one shots written from the prompts posted at Bonesology in their weekly summer fic challenge. The first prompt is, Never let the words 'I Love You' remain unsaid. Takes place end of season 5….

Booth was in the Army again, but this time as an instructor. When he left the Rangers almost a decade ago he swore he'd never go back, but then he got the opportunity to train soldiers to track and apprehend insurgents and possibly save lives. He meant what he told Brennan he wasn't going, he had Parker, his job and their partnership plus a million other things to think about. Someone else could do it, the government had plenty of capable soldiers. Then Brennan had to go and remind him that no one, no matter how capable was as good as he was…. Before he knew it he had orders to report to Ft. Belvoir to go through training for his new role training soldiers in 14 hours and 10 minutes. His next stop was Afghanistan. He'd spent the day with Parker doing whatever the ten year old wanted now after having dinner with him and Rebecca at her insistence and making sure Parker was asleep, he was knocking on Brennan's apartment door.

"Booth! What are you doing here? You should be packing or spending time with Parker…"

"Parker's asleep and I packed last night. Now I'm spending my last night as a civilian with my partner eating ice cream…" Booth held up a bag from his favorite ice cream shop. Brennan smiled a little and stepped back so he could come inside. Booth walked to the couch and sat the bag on the coffee table.

Brennan sat down next to him, "Booth, it's ten at night, it's too late for ice cream… "

"Bones it's never too later for ice cream, especially if it's the last you'll have for a year…" Booth opened the bag and took out two large paper containers. "I got you mint chocolate chip. That's your favorite, right?" Booth handed Brennan her ice cream.

"Yeah, one of them, my other favorite is coconut." Brennan took the lid off, picked up the spoon and took a bite. "How was your day with Parker?"

"Good. Rebecca let him spend the night last night. I picked him up after school we got pizza and came home, I let him stay up late playing video games. We had peanut butter banana pancakes for breakfast then we went to the park and played catch until my shoulder gave out. Then we went to the movies we did a double feature, that cost an arm and a leg, but it was worth it. We talked a lot, he's scared I won't come home… my job is dangerous, but it won't be as dangerous as some of the jobs over there. When I dropped him off Rebecca insisted that the three of us have dinner together. She made spaghetti and garlic bread, it was good. It was strange to have dinner with her, we haven't done that since I got out of the Army when Parker was a baby. We played games, Parker beat my ass at Monopoly. He was fine until Rebecca told him it was bedtime, that's when he started crying and asking me not to go. I got him calmed down and ready for bed, I laid next to him until he fell asleep. I didn't question going over there until he started begging me not to go. Am I doing the right thing, Bones? I can't get out of it now, but am I doing the right thing?"

"Yes. This mission will help balance that cosmic balance sheet you have in your head…" Brennan smiled at Booth. They ate in silence for a few minutes. "Booth, remember a few months ago when you told me you wanted someone to spend the next 30, 40, or 50 years with and I said I couldn't be that person?"

"Yeah, as hard as I try I can't forget you turning me down, Bones."

Brennan pulled her spoon through her ice cream. "We're both going off to places we might not make it back from. I need to tell you something."

Booth sat his ice cream on the table. "Okay, what?"

"I-I love you, Booth…"

"I love you too, Bones. I always have."

Brennan smiled a little, "I'm not good at relationships, I can't relate to people very well. They start out well but then the guy wants more and I don't catch on fast enough and he leaves me or he gets to know me and doesn't like the real me. Or he goes too fast and I panic and end it. Our work schedule makes it impossible to go on a date…" they both laughed.

"What are you saying, Bones?"

"I'm saying I want to try to have a relationship with you… I realize I have really bad timing considering you leave in the morning and I leave in two days, but-"

Booth grinned and pulled Brennan to him, "yeah, the timing sucks. but we can make it work. I can email you some that is if you have access."

"I will, it will be limited, but I should be able to check my email weekly."

"That'll work. When we both get stateside again we'll start our relationship the right way. We'll go as slow as you need to. Just promise me if you start to panic about us you'll talk to me or Angela even before you do anything rash."

"I promise, Booth."

"Good. I'm going to kiss you now…"

"I'd like that very much." Brennan held her cup of ice cream out so it wouldn't get crushed between their bodies. Once the lack of oxygen caused them to break the kiss Booth reached for his melting cup of rocky road and wrapped his arm around Brennan's shoulders.

"You're a very good kisser, Booth. I found our kiss very satisfying."

Booth laughed, "Good to know, Bones. You're not so bad yourself."

"Thank you."

They finished their ice cream. "This is really good ice cream, Booth."

"I know, I started taking Parker there when Rebecca started letting me have him for the weekend." Booth looked at his watch, "Bones, I have to go…"

"No stay here tonight…"

"I want to, but I can't, Bones. I have to get up really early in the morning…"

"You could do that here…"

Booth laughed, "I could, but my bag is at my apartment. Besides I would keep you up all night, I'm not going to sleep much if at all tonight."

"I don't care!"

"Bones…"

"Booth, I find I don't want you to go…"

"Bones, I don't want to go either, but it's my duty. Just like you have a duty to go to Maluku and discover ancient civilizations or whatever you're looking for."

"I could get out of it, Daisy could do it…."

"Nope… nope… Daisy still has training wheels. She's not ready for this on her own… besides working will keep you from worrying too much about me and we both know you will so, don't deny it…"

"Still I don't want either of us to go anywhere."

"I don't want us to go either, but we have to. It will go by fast, before you know it we'll be back here starting our relationship the right way."

"Yeah, I guess…"

"We will be fine, Bones. We have something else to look forward to now." Booth started kissing Brennan again this time with more passion. Sooner than either one of them liked Booth broke the kiss. "Bones, I really need to go, staying longer isn't going to make my leaving any easier on either of us."

"I know… Goodbye, Booth. I love you. Be careful."

"Goodbye, Bones. I love you too. I'm always careful, Bones. You be careful in the jungle."

"I'll be careful, Booth."

"Good. I'll try and call you before you leave or something…"

"Okay." Booth gave Brennan one last kiss and a hug before he stood up to leave. "I love you, Bones."

"I love you too, Booth."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This week's challenge is: A one shot or series of one shots or drabbles about the various phobias that afflict the team, whether canon or from your imagination. I'm going to do a one shot

Booth took Christine and Hank to the children's carnival in town to give Brennan some peace and quiet to finish writing her book in. The day had gone well, they played all the games at least twice and ridden all the rides. They listened to storytellers and watched a magic show, gotten their faces painted, went on a pony ride, and consumed as much junk food as possible. There was one thing they hadn't done and Booth was hoping they could skip it and go home to Brennan.

"Daddy, can we go see the clown and get a balloon animal now?" Booth had spent most of the day skillfully advoiding the red wig, orange floppy shoe wearing clown. The clown looked friendly and from what he saw all the kids liked him or her, but Booth was still freaked out. Booth sighed and looked down at Hank, "Yeah, buddy, but you have to hold on to Christine's hand tight okay?" She'll go with you…"

"Okay, but why aren't you going? You said we had to stay with you…"

Booth sighed and knelt down, "I'm afraid of clowns, bud…"

"Why?"

"Because the makeup hides their face and I can't see who they are…"

"Oh. Mommy wears makeup and you're not afraid of her, are you?" Hank looked horrified at the thought.

"No, Buddy I'm not afraid of mommy. When she wears makeup she still looks like mommy. Go get your balloon animal with Christine. Then we'll play some of the games again before we go home."

"Okay. Come on, Chrissy!" Christine let Hank drag her toward the clown. Booth was a good 20 feet away but he never took his eyes off Christine, Hank, or the clown. Five minutes later Hank and Christine were back at Booth's side holding his hands. An hour and a half later Hank came busting through the door. "Mommy!" Brennan held up her finger and finished typing and closed her laptop and put it on the coffee table.

"Yes, Hank?"

"Did you know daddy is afraid of clowns?"

Brennan smirked a little, "Yes, I did know that."

"Oh. Daddy let me and Chrissy go get our balloon animals from the clown ourselves. I had to hold Chrissy's hand really tight though."

Brennan nodded. "I see. Did you have fun though?"

"Yep."

"That's good."

"I won ring toss!" Hank dug in the plastic bag he carried and pulled out a small stuffed turtle, he handed it to Brennan. "You can have it, mommy."

"That's great that you won, buddy. You can keep the turtle."

"I don't want it. I like the lobster I got for winning the bucket game better!" Hank held up a stuffed lobster.

Brennan smiled, "Okay, I'll keep the turtle on my desk."

"Okay."

Christine walked up then and sat down next to Brennan. "Did you have a good day at the carnival Christine?"

"Yep, I got a cat from the dart game!" Christine held out the green and blue cat.

"It's colorful!"

"Yeah. I didn't think daddy was afraid of anything!"

Brennan put her arm around Christine. "Aw, sweetheart, there are things daddy is afraid of. All adults have fears, it's normal."

"Oh. Are you afraid of anything?"

"Yes, I'm afraid of snakes."

"Why?"

"Because they slither and don't really make noise when they move."

"Oh."

Brennan kissed the top of Christine's head, "Go wash your hands and face, you have food all over them. Take Hank with you."

"Okay." Christine skipped to the bathroom and Hank trudged after her. Brennan shook her head and stood up and went to Booth. "Did you have a good day at the carnival?"

"Yes, except for that stupid clown! He or she looked nice and the kids seemed to like them, but it freaked me out."

Brennan grinned and kissed Booth's cheek, "I'm sorry, Booth. I forgot about them having a clown there. I am proud of you for letting the kids go see him."

"Yeah, I tried to skip the clown, but it was the only thing they hadn't done and when Hank asked, I couldn't say no. I kept eyes on them the whole time. I think Hank was surprised that I'm afraid of clowns."

"He enjoyed telling me that you're afraid of them. "

Booth laughed, "I heard."

"Christine didn't think you were afraid of anything. Your admission might have tarnished her image of you a little."

"Yeah maybe, but that's okay. Did you get your book finished?"

"Almost, I have three pages left. I can get them written after Christine and Hank are in bed."

"That's good."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This week's challenge is: In season 2, we found out that Sully's FBI nickname was Peanut. But what is Booth's FBI nickname and why? Describe the circumstances that reveal the information to Brennan, or come up with someone else's secret nickname and tell us their story!

Brennan stood off to the side and watched as Booth hit the paper target at the end of his stall at the FBI firing range with deadly accuracy. Brennan didn't always accompany Booth when he had to requalify, but sometimes she did, and this was one of those times. Booth emptied his chip and brought the target in. The agent in the next stall took one look at Booth's target and smirked, "nice job half load…" Booth chuckled as the agent walked away. Booth walked over to Brennan and frowned at the look on her face.

"Booth, why did that agent refer to you as 'half load?' "

Booth grinned a little, "Bones, what did Sully tell you about FBI nicknames?"

"That they're the opposite of the person…"

"Um-hum and one of the definitions of 'half load' is a bullet doesn't have enough power to hit a target."

"Oh, so other agents are jealous of your expert marksmanship?"

"Yep… no one in the FBI is as good as I am…"

"I'm not jealous of your marksmanship. I'm very thankful you are the best…" Brennan kissed Booth and the kiss quickly turned into something inappropriate for the FBI firing range…

"Ah Bones, why don't we call Angela and see if she'll watch the kids overnight?"

"They're spending the night with Michael Vincent, I gave Angela an overnight bag with clothes and pajamas as soon as I got to the lab this morning. I got a room for us at a hotel five miles from here…"

"You planned this?"

"A little, watching you shoot has always been a turn on for me…"

Booth grinned, "Give me ten minutes to grab my gear…"

"Hurry…"

A/N2: I took a liberty with this one. I used to watch The Closer on TNT( it's canceled, but it's spinoff Major Crimes is good) and they had this episode called 'Half load' and for some reason when I was thinking of ideas that title popped in my head because the showrunner did episode blogs and he explained what 'half load' was and muse won't go past it. The only thing is I don't know if his explanation is correct as I can't find that anywhere, but I'm going with it…..


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: this week's(and NEXT WEEK'S)challenge is : Write a multi-chapter story about the team renting a huge beach house for the summer. Not all team members have to stay there at the same time. Some can stay one week, some others, some all summer. You choose. Length of story is up to you, but it should be multi-chapter. The setting is beginning of season 11, after Booth has recovered from his injury. **THIS IS A MULTI CHAPTER STORY! ALL PARTS WILL BE POSTED ON THIS CHALLENGE!**

* * *

It had been 35 days since Jared died and Booth was hurt. He'd fully recovered after nine days in the hospital and three weeks on the couch with Brennan and the kids. Booth let himself in the house and sighed, he'd been back at work for a week and he was already ready for vacation. Booth smiled as he saw Brennan bending over to put Hank back in his porta crib. "Don't put him down, I'll take him."

Brennan smiled and stood up, "go sit down and I'll bring him to you. You aren't supposed to lift more than five pounds and Hank hasn't been five pounds since before he was born."

Booth grinned and went over to the couch and sat down. Brennan carried Hank over to Booth and sat him in his lap. Booth kissed the side of the baby's head, "Hey buddy how was your day?"

Brennan smiled, "I think he had a good day, he ate and napped. We shipped some artifacts back to Egypt and then we went to the park."

"Hank's day sounds better than mine…"

"I'm sorry, Booth. You didn't injure yourself further did you?"

"No. I'm on desk duty for another 5 weeks. I had meetings, paperwork and lunch. Plus I had to get debriefed on Jared's situation again. Got to hand it to him, he sure knew how to screw things up for everyone else…" Booth handed Hank a toy that he promptly started chewing on.

"I'm sorry, Booth."

"Ah, what can you do? It is what it is. I've been thinking, why don't we rent one of those beach houses and stay in it for a month or so?"

"Booth we just came back from retirement…"

"Some retirement. You consulted on bones via satellite link all over the world and I taught at the academy. Then I had to go and pull a Superman routine to try and save Jared's ass and had to wait for you to rescue me…"

"I took a three month break before I started consulting, Booth."

"…So you could have a baby! Face it, Bones, we suck at retiring!"

"We can take a long weekend and go to the beach if you want to, Booth."

"I don't want a long weekend, Bones. I want to live there for a while…" Brennan looked at Booth and her heart constricted a little. In a subtle way Booth was telling her he wasn't ready to be back yet. That he needed more time to recover.

"We can look into renting a beach house tonight after the kids go down."

"Okay." Booth smiled his first real boothy smile in thirty five days.

"Dinner won't be ready for about an hour if you want to go change out of your suit."

"Okay, I will in a few minutes." Brennan nodded and went back to assembling the casserole. A few minutes later she looked over at the couch and smiled. Booth had slipped his shoes off and propped his feet up on the coffee table and loosened his tie before he and Hank fell asleep. When dinner was done Brennan quietly pulled it out of the oven put some on two plates. She put the remaining baked spaghetti squash back in the oven and went to Christine's room.

"Honey, dinner is ready, but you have to be quiet; daddy and Hank are sleeping on the couch and I don't want to wake up either of them. Daddy still doesn't feel well and he needs to sleep."

Christine pouted, "But I wanted to have dinner with daddy, I missed him so much today!"

Brennan kissed the top of Christine's head. "I know, and I'm sorry you can't have dinner with him. You can have ice cream tonight and save it for later when daddy's awake, that way you can have dessert with him."

"Okay." Brennan and Christine managed to eat dinner without waking Booth or Hank. An hour later  
Hank started to fuss and before Brennan could get him Booth was awake. "Hey Bones, when's dinner?"

Brennan smiled as she gave a kiss and scooped up Hank. "Dinner was over an hour ago, Booth. You and Hank slept through it. The leftover spaghetti squash is in the refrigerator. You might want to have dessert first though. Christine is upset she couldn't have dinner with you, I told her she could have ice cream with you when you woke up. She's already taken her bath and put her pajamas on, but she should still be awake."

"Okay." Booth headed for Christine's room while Brennan headed to give Hank his last feeding and a bath before he went down for the night.

"Hey Angel, you ready for ice cream?" Christine looked up and smiled at Booth. "Daddy. You're awake!"

"Yeah."

"Mommy said you were sleeping because you didn't feel good. I thought you were better though!"

"Christine, I'm getting better every day, it's going to take a while though I was really sick. Let's go have ice cream."

"Okay." Christine slid off her bed and followed Booth to the kitchen. Booth pulled out the carton of chocolate ice cream and grabbed the container of sprinkles and whipped cream. Five minutes later he and Christine were sitting at the counter eating large scoops of chocolate ice cream covered in sprinkles and whipped cream. Once Christine was done Booth stood behind her and wiped the ice cream off her face.

"Go brush your teeth again and I'll tuck you in and read to you for a little while."

"Okay, daddy."

An hour later Booth walked into the kitchen. "Christine is out like a light."

Brennan looked up from her laptop, "So is Hank, he didn't even finish his last bottle. He might be up later for another."

I'm surprised he fell asleep with me."

"I'm not, he's missed his cuddles with you when you get home. That's one reason I didn't wake you up, you both were more relaxed than I've seen you in weeks…"

"This week got me, desk duty is more tiring than you'd think."

"True, but you're still recovering too. Heat up your dinner and come sit and eat while we figure out where we're going to go on vacation."

Two hours later Booth and Brennan had settled on Dewey Beach, Delaware. It was only about 2 and a half hours from their house, depending on traffic. Now they were disagreeing on how many bedrooms they needed. "Booth, we only need three bedrooms at most. We could get by with two if we put Hank's crib in our room. I don't see why we need five bedrooms…"

"I was thinking we could invite Hodgins, Angela, Michael Vincent, Aubrey, and Cam to spend time with us. Jared's case was hard on everyone… we all need a break…"

"It wasn't though…."

'It was, Bones I could see it on everybody's faces once I woke up from surgery. Everyone thought it was me on the table…"

"You do have very similar injuries to Jared, so much so that everyone assumed it was you and that I was delusional for saying that it wasn't. After I was alone with the remains I was able to determine that it wasn't you when I examined the left scapula, yours shows signs of remodeling from the firefight you were in before you went to prison. Jared's left scapula was intact…"

"Thank God for that…"

"Yes. I do think it would be nice to spend some of our vacation seeing everyone in a social setting. They have a house with five bedrooms one of which has bunk beds another has two twin beds. Two of the bedrooms have a queen, and the master a king…"

"Perfect. When can we reserve it?"

"They have a vacancy starting Monday for the next six weeks…"

"Book it…"

"Christine has school next week, Booth."

"Only three days, she's not going to miss anything."

"Her kindergarten graduation is the last day of school. While not as important as her high school or college graduation, I feel as her parents we should be there. My parents weren't at my graduations. I don't want to miss any of our children's milestones no matter how small."

"We'll go to graduation and take her out for a movie and pizza and ice cream. We'll leave for the beach on Thursday."

"Thank you." Brennan kissed Booth's cheek. Thursday didn't start out well, everyone overslept by an hour. Booth helped Christine into her booster seat. "Can you reach your backpack of stuff, Christine?"

"Yep. Daddy sit back here with me…"

"I have to drive, Angel."

"Please?"

"Booth, I can drive…"

"I can't sit wedged between Christine's booster seat and Hank's car seat, Bones."

Brennan nodded and climbed in the back, "Christine, can you get out of your seat so I can scoot it over to make more room for daddy to sit back here with you?" Brennan undid Christine's buckle and watched her hop out. Twenty minutes later they were on the road, Brennan smiled as she heard Booth start to read to Christine. The trip took longer than expected, they sat in stopped traffic for almost an hour waiting for an accident to be cleared. "Mommy, I need to go to the bathroom!"

"Okay, there should be a gas station in ten minutes."

"Okay."

"Hank needs to be changed, too." Brennan nodded. Forty minutes later Christine climbed back in the SUV with a snack sized bag of Goldfish crackers and a juice box. "Daddy, mommy let me get goldfish!" Booth raised an eyebrow over Brennan letting Christine have junk food.

"It's a treat, she been sitting in the car for over 2 hours and hasn't complained…" Brennan finished buckling Hank in and handed Booth a plastic bag, he opened it and grinned. "You got me cheese curls and water…"

"You deserve a treat too. Another hour and we should be there."


	5. Chapter 5

Part 2

A/N This is the second chapter in the challenge prompt for the weeks of 06/12-06/25. Sorry it's late, RL has been a demanding PITA the last week and a half. This isn't the end of this story, I just stopped because the chapter was getting long. The third and final chapter should be up by the end of the week. I'm skipping the prompt for the week of 06/26. I will do the prompt for the week of 07/03 when I finish the last part of this story.

An hour later Brennan pulled up to their destination, after stopping at the office to get the keys she continued on to the house. Christine was out of her seat before Booth could open the door. "Whoa, hold on Christine, I know you're excited to be here, but you need to wait until I get out before you do."

"Hurry, daddy!"

Booth shook his head and carefully climbed out before helping Christine out of the SUV. Brennan lifted Hank's car seat out and picked up the diaper bag. "Christine, please come back and get your bag of toys and wait for me to give you your suitcase."

"But I wanna go to the beach!"

"I know, we all want to go to the beach, but we need to get our things inside and the food put away first."

"But-"

"Christine Angela, if you don't take your bags inside you and I will be having quiet time in the house while daddy and Hank go to the beach…"Christine sighed and walked back to the SUV and picked up her backpack of toys. Booth took the keys and unlocked the front door, he turned and smiled a little at Christine as she rolled her suitcase up the sidewalk and past him. "Go pick out your room, one of them has bunkbeds."

"Okay."

A half hour later everything was moved in and the food was put away, Brennan set up Hank's crib in the room with the two twin beds. She found Christine in the room with the bunkbeds sitting on the bottom bunk. "I thought you'd pick this room."

"The bunkbeds are SO cool! Can we go to the beach now?"

"Yes. Go put one of your swimsuits on and the shoes we got for you to wear at the beach."

"Okay." Brennan smiled as Christine got off the bed and started going through her suitcase. Brennan quickly changed into her suit and went to the kitchen and found Booth grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator. "Booth, take your shirt off."

"Bones! You know the doc said I need to wait a few more weeks to let everything heal on the inside…"

Brennan laughed, "I know, I didn't mean so we could have sex, I meant so I can put a waterproof dressing over your wound. I know the doctor said you didn't need to keep it covered anymore, but I think it would be wise to do so while we're here. Just in case." Brennan pulled a box of bandages from the tote bag she was going to take to the beach.

"Yeah, good idea, Bones. Booth took off his shirt.

"It looks great, Booth. " Just as Brennan was about to apply the dressing, Christine walked in the room.

"Daddy!"

Booth and Brennan turned to see Christine standing by the island staring at the scar that went a fourth the way across Booth's stomach. "Come here, Christine." Christine hesitated and slowly walked to Booth, he took her hand. "I'm fine Christine. Everything is all healed up, mommy is just putting the bandage on it to make sure no sand or water gets on it. I still can't pick you or your brother up and play with you like I usually do, yet, but we can still have fun together."

"Okay. " Christine watched Brennan cover Booth's wound. "Booth, you're all set. Why don't you and Christine head to the beach? I'll bring Hank and our things shortly."

"We can all go together. You can get Hank, Christine can carry the tote bag. I can get the beach chairs, they're not heavy and the pool float. You'll have to come back for the cooler."

"I brought the little one, I can carry it and Hank at the same time."

"Okay, let's go!" Brennan handed Christine the tote bag and lifted Hank out of his car seat, then she grabbed the cooler and followed Christine outside. They found the perfect spot not too far down from the house. "Bones this is the perfect spot, it's not crowded and it's close to the house if we need something."

"I concur. Christine, come here so I can put your sunscreen on." Christine held her arms out and let Brennan apply it. Once everyone was coated in sunscreen Booth took Christine's hand, "let's go for a walk on the beach then we can build a sand castle."

"Okay." The family set off down the beach, with Christine between them. A while later Brennan padded the pool float with blankets and settled Hank in it and pulled the umbrella over him. Then she settled in a beach chair to watch Booth and Christine build a sand castle. Hours later after putting Hank in bed for the night Brennan found Booth on the deck sitting in the glider holding Christine. "Booth!"

"She climbed up here by herself, she's not anywhere near it. Nothing hurts."

"Still…"

"She's asleep anyway, you can put her in bed." Brennan started to carefully lift Christine off Booth.

"Daddy…"

"Shh, go back to sleep, Christine, mommy is going to put you in bed."

"No, you do it!"

"We both will, go back to sleep." Brennan waited until Christine settled back down and lifted her off Booth, he followed her to the bedroom and tucked Christine in on the bottom bunk. After they'd checked on Hank Booth and Brennan went back out to the deck and sat together in the glider. "This has been the perfect start to our vacation, Bones."

"It has. Christine is especially looking forward to next week when Michael Vincent is here."

"Yeah, those two will have a blast here. I just wish I was more able to do things with them."

"I know, me too, but Christine is just happy you're home. I am too. "

"I'm happy to be here, Bones. You have no idea, if the guy that shot me would have been better at it, I'd been on the table too. If it'd taken you another two hours to find me I wouldn't be here now."

"I know…"

"Let's go to bed, huh? It's been a long day and Christine will be up with the sun wanting to go to the beach." Booth stood up and held out his hand to help Brennan up. She stood up on her own then put her arm through Booth's.

The next morning Brennan woke up and glanced at the clock, it was 8:30 in the morning and everyone was still sleeping. Brennan carefully got up and checked on the kids and found them both sleeping soundly. Then Brennan went to the kitchen and made a cup of tea and went out on the deck. She was just finishing her tea when Booth came outside. "I can't believe the kids are still asleep."

"We should wake them up soon… Hank's nap schedule will be thrown off."

"Bones we're on vacation let them sleep. If Hank naps late or not at all it's okay once and a while. The fresh sea air wore them out yesterday."

Brennan was about to reply when Christine wandered outside, 'Good morning, Christine. Did you sleep well?"

"Yep, I'm hungry. Daddy, can you make pancakes?"

"Sure, monkey, let's go inside." Booth followed Christine inside. Brennan hurried to Hank's room when she heard him start to fuss. After breakfast everybody got ready and headed for the beach. The next Thursday Angela, Hodgins and Michael Vincent arrived mid-morning. Angela and Brennan were inside working on lunch while Hank napped and Hodgins and Booth were on the beach with the kids.

"Bren we have only been here an hour and I don't want to leave. Michael was so excited I'm surprised he was able to sit still long enough to get here. He couldn't wait to play with Christine."

"She couldn't wat for him to get here either. I confess I couldn't wait for you to get here either…"

"Aw, Bren, I missed you too, this week. The lab has been really quiet without you and Booth. Speaking of, Booth is looking better."

Brennan looked out the open French door and watched Booth holding Christine's hand while they stood in the water. "Yes, this trip has been greatly beneficial to his recovery. He misses not being able to be really active with the kids, but he finds ways to do special things with Christine. The last three mornings they've left before Hank and I wake up and walked into town and had breakfast at a diner he found. This morning I was awake when they were getting ready to go, but I stayed in bed so they could have their special morning."

"That's sweet that he does that."

"Booth is an excellent father to all three of our children."

"I still can't believe you're staying here for another five weeks."

"Booth wants to live at the beach for a while, so that's what we're doing. If moving here was what he wanted I'd do that too. He's had to deal with a lot of things in his life that have not been easy for him and I think it has caught up with him, especially being in prison, his gambling relapse, and Jared's situation."

"Yeah, you need this too, Bren the last three years have been hell for you too." Just then Hank woke up.

"I'll get him, Bren. Finish lunch."

"Okay, thanks, Ange."

A few minutes later Angela came into the kitchen with Hank and sat on a stool at the counter. "I miss this."

Brennan looked up and smiled, "I know what you mean, as irrational as it sounds I'd like for them both to stay little. Have you and Hodgins talked about having another?"

"A little. We both want another one, but we're scared to tempt fate again. I haven't told Hodgins yet, but I made an appointment with a different genetic specialist for next month. We're both going to go through more extensive testing and see if we have more options, it's been almost 8 years."

"If you need anything…"

"Thanks, Bren…."

"Lunch is ready, I'll go disappoint everyone while you put Hank in his highchair." Angela laughed and headed for the table. After everyone devoured their turkey wraps, chopped salad, and pineapple Booth put in a movie so Christine and Michael Vincent would take a break from the sun. Once everyone was absorbed in the movie Angela turned to Brennan, "Sweetie, why don't you and Booth go out tonight? Hodgins and I will watch Christine and Hank."

"Ange, you just got here I can't ask you to watch the kids. You're not here to babysit, we're all here to relax after the stress of Jared's case and Booth's injury…"

"When's the last time you had date night without Hodgins and I?"

"The night before Booth started teaching…"

"That was almost seven months ago, Bren! You're going out with Booth tonight end of story!"

"Fine!"

"Thank you. You can return the favor before we go home in two weeks."

"Okay."

"So is anyone else coming?"

"Cam will be here Wednesday, she's staying until Sunday then she's leaving to move Michelle home for the summer. We told her that she is welcome to bring Michelle if they want to come back we have room. She said she'd ask Michelle and let us know. Aubrey wants to come, but he doesn't know when or if he can get time off."

"Are any of the interns coming?

"No, Booth only wanted our core group here. The only exceptions being Mr. Vaziri and Ms. Warren."

"We'll still have a good time whoever is here."

"Yes, we will. Booth brought games and things for the adults to do after the kids are asleep. "

"I can't wait for that."

"Me either to be honest."

"See we all needed to go to the beech…"

Later that night Booth and Brennan were getting ready to leave on their date night. "Angela, are you sure you don't mind watching the kids?"

"I'm sure Bren. Go have fun with Booth. When Hodgins gets back from the store we're going to make our own pizza and watch a movie or play a game."

"Okay."

"Come on, Bones let's go!" Booth came down the hall in a button down shirt and slacks. He put his hand on Brennan's back and started guiding her to the door. "Thanks for tonight, Ange."

"You're welcome, Booth."

Three hours later Booth and Brennan came home to find Angela sitting at the kitchen counter. "Hey you two, how was it?"

"Great. Dinner was delicious. Booth and I had a nice night walking around and checking tout the town. I found some stores I want to stop at before we go home. Maybe you and I can go on a shopping day before you go home."

"Sure, Bren."

"How were the children?"

"They were great. We had pizza and ice cream then we watched a movie. They're all asleep. Hank was a little fussy but he settled down and fell asleep after I held him for a while."

Brennan smiled, "Hank has gotten used to cuddling with Booth at night and since he's been hurt and can't lift him Hank has been a bit fussy at night now."

"AWW."

"Booth's doctor wants to see him in a month so hopefully he'll lift restrictions then."

"Is Booth doing okay though?"

"Yes, the wound healed nicely, it showed no sign of infection. I'm assuming the removal the tissue on the inside and the repairs made to his stomach are healing well too. Not being able to lift anything over five pounds and desk duty is getting to him. That another reason we're here he's serving desk duty on the beach."

"I don't blame him, Booth is many things, but a desk jockey isn't one of them."

"No it isn't. I'm going to go to bed. Christine and Hank have slept in so far, but now that Michael Vincent is here I have the feeling she'll be up with the sun. Thanks for tonight."

"You're welcome, sweetie. See you in the morning."

The next morning everyone slept in a little and enjoyed waffles sausage and scrambled eggs for breakfast before spending the morning on the beach. That afternoon after lunch while Christine, Michael Vincent and Hank were having downtime Brennan and Angela went shopping. Booth and Hodgins were sitting on the deck enjoying the sun and quiet.

"All right, Hodgins, spill it."

"Spill what, Booth?"

"Whatever is on your mind. I can tell you're thinking and it's not about something squinty…"

Hodgins chuckled and took a deep breath, "Angie wants another baby…"

"Do you want another baby?"

"Yeah, but the odds of this baby having LCA are greater than they were with Michael Vincent…"

"Hodgins, I know that it isn't something you want, but you and Angela can handle that diagnosis. You're two of the most intelligent I know."

"Thanks Booth. I know we can handle it emotionally, but when Michael Vincent could have been born with LCA we were in the position to get him the best treatments and get him in the best schools, but now we're living well thanks to my floor mat invention and the hot sauce, but we have Jeffery to take care of and the place he's in is very expensive plus he's on some new medications that aren't covered by his insurance. We can afford LCA but not like we could before."

"Have you talked to Angela about this?"

"No. if I bring up money she gets quiet and odd. If I bring up the baby maybe having LCA and the lack of money she'll stop bring up us having another kid. I want to give her the million kids she wants, but I wish it was like it was before so that if a fourth of them had LCA it wouldn't matter."

"Talk to Angela she probably has the same thoughts, but doesn't want to say them out loud."

"You think?"

"Yes. Just talk to her. If you don't want to risk having a kid you could adopt…"

"Yeah. Thanks, Booth."

Booth shrugged, "Anytime Hodgins. If you guys need anything don't hesitate to ask me or Bones."

"Daddy, I'm bored… The movie is stupid!" Christine came outside and stood beside Booth.

"Do you want to go for a walk?"

"Uh-huh."

"Let's go get your brother."

"Hank can stay with Michael Vincent and me…"

"You sure Hodgins?"

"Yeah, I could use the practice…"

Booth chuckled, "okay Christine go get your other shoes on."

"Okay, daddy." Christine went back inside.

"I haven't walked this much in a long time, Christine wants to spend time with me and walking or sandcastle building is about all I can do right now."

"All that matters is you're here and able to spend time with Christine and the rest of us."

"Yeah."

"I'm ready, daddy."

"Okay." Booth took Christine's hand and they headed down the stairs.

The next morning everyone was about to head to the beach when Booth's phone rang, "Booth?"

"Of course, Aubrey. Come on down."

"Okay. We'll see you tonight." Booth put his phone back in his shorts pocket.

"Aubrey is coming tonight after he gets off work."

"That will be nice. We'll need to go to the store before he gets here and get well stocked. We may as well move Hank's crib into our room, Cam will be here in a few days."

"Yeah, we'll have to get double the amount, he sounded down and you know how he eats when gets upset."

"Yes, let's go to the beach and we can go to the store after lunch."

After a long morning of building sandcastle compounds, looking for shells, kite flying, and relaxing Christine and Michael Vincent were laying on the living room floor sleeping. "Bones, I'm gonna head to the store. I'm gonna take Hank with me. The seven month old was wide awake in his porta crib.

"Booth, it don't think-"

"Doctor B, I'll go with them, I need more toothpaste." Brennan nodded as Hodgins picked up Hank. "Little dude, you need to be changed before we go!" Brennan laughed and quickly took the baby and came back a few minutes later she handed him to Hodgins. Once they were in the car Booth turned to Hodgins, "you don't need toothpaste do you?"

"No. I just thought you'd like to get out of the house without Doctor B. hovering…"

Booth chucked, "thanks Hodgins."

"No problem."

Later that night the adults were sitting on the deck playing cards and talking when Aubrey pulled in. He exited his SUV and pulled a duffel bag from the back then crossed to the house. Booth stood at the top of the porch and watched him, something was definitely wrong with the younger agent. "Hey, Aubrey."

"Hey Booth, thanks for letting me stay."

"You're welcome."

Brennan looked up and frowned slightly. "Hello Aubrey."

"Hey Doctor B, Hodgins, Angela "

"There is leftover chicken, green beans and potatoes in the refrigerator if you'd like them."

"No thanks Doctor B. It's been a long day and then the drive up here. I think I'm just going to go to bed."

"Okay well, two rooms are empty, one with twin beds and one with a queen."

"Okay." Aubrey went into the house, Booth started to follow Brennan held on to his arm. "No, Booth."

"But…"

"I agree something is wrong, but for tonight he needs time and space…" Booth grinned a little and kissed Brennan. "I love you, Bones."

"I love you too, Booth. Now come on, let's finish our game." Booth nodded and sat back down. The sun was just coming up when Booth heard someone go out to the deck, figuring it was Aubrey he got out of bed and quickly got dressed. Stopping at the kitchen Booth made a cup of coffee, with it in hand he slipped outside. He walked to the railing across from where Aubrey was sitting and leaned against it, crossing his arms over his chest. "What's wrong?"

Aubrey glanced at Booth, "Nothing."

Booth crossed his ankles and took a sip of coffee and waited. This time when Aubrey glanced at Booth he laughed, he'd seen Booth use the same posture and facial expression on suspects he knew were lying.

Aubrey sighed, "Jess and I got in a fight. We've been dating for a few months now and it's been going great so I asked her to move in with me. She spends at least three nights a week at my place anyway, I thought it'd be more practical than her living out of a suitcase all the time. I hardly had the words out of my mouth when she started refusing I asked why but she just left and wouldn't take my calls. I don't get it, I asked her and it was like something snapped and she freaked out. I want what you and Brennan have, the relationship, not the crazy psychopath killers stalking you and all that… I thought Jess was the one…"

"She is, your relationship with Jessica is off to a better start than mine and Bones' was in the beginning. I knew I loved her from the moment I saw her lecturing about de-fleshing techniques. She's the reason I stopped gambling the first time. I knew I needed to get my shit together if I stood any kind of chance of anything with Bones. Bones and I knew each other for years before we started a seriously dating. We denied any feelings for each other for years. I drew a line in the sand about how colleagues couldn't be lovers because the emotions involved would get in the way of working together. I did the most stupidest thing I could have done, a few months before we both left our jobs and went overseas I told Bones that I wanted a real relationship with someone I could spend the next 30, 40, or 50 years with and if she couldn't commit to me then any personal relationship we had or could have had was over."

"Booth…"

"I know I was an ass. If Brodsky hadn't killed Vincent Nigel Murray and I hadn't insisted Bones stay at my apartment that night and Bones' grief hadn't gotten too much for her in the middle of the night and if she hadn't come to me and we slept together we'd probably still be just partners. Earlier that year when I was in Afghanistan I met a reporter, Hannah Burley-"

"That blonde chick on CNN with the annoying voice?"

"Yep… Anyway we hit it off and when I came back to the States she followed me and we were in a pretty heavy relationship, I asked her to marry me, she said no."

"Thank God for that."

"Yeah, it probably wouldn't have worked out…. Anyway after the breakup Bones and I were very strained to say the least, but after that night we started working through all of our baggage and we started a relationship again then Brodsky happened…"

"So you're saying I need to find another woman and get in a relationship with her then break it off and go back to Jess for my happily ever after?"

"NO. God No. What I'm saying is that don't take as much time as Bones and I did. We missed a lot because we were scared and too stubborn to go for it. I don't know about Bones, but for a lot of the years of our partnership I was miserable, having the love of my life so close and not being able to tell her how I felt."

"But Jess walked out…"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it's over between you two. Jessica is a lot like Bones, she runs when things change too quickly for her. You need to ease her into it, move in with her for a while so she has some control over the situation. When Bones and I started living together I spent most of my time at her place then when she got comfortable with us being together we started alternating whose apartment we stayed at. Don't push her into anything, but don't let her push you away…"

"My place is bigger than Jess's and closer to the Hoover…"

"Yeah, but Jessica hasn't been on her own that long and it's probably freaking her out thinking she's going to become dependent on you. Bones is independent almost to a fault, I love that about her. I just make sure I'm there to help when she needs it whether she knows it or not…"

"Jess isn't taking my calls though…"

"When did you fight?"

"Night before last."

"Wait till later this morning and try calling her again. Talk it out, let her have her say and listen to what she has to say and don't yell at her. Squints aren't that good at social situations or dealing with their emotions. This is probably going to be one of the hardest things Jessica has done in her life because she can't fall back on science. If she tells you love is only a chemical reaction or whatever, that's a bunch of horse pucky."

"Okay."

"She's welcome to come here and stay if you want."

"Thanks Booth. Do you think Doctor B. would mind if I ate the leftovers from last night?"

Booth laughed, "No, she made extra for you we thought you'd be here by dinner."

"I tried but Stark made me sit in a pointless meeting… then I had to still pack."

"At least you made it. I'm going back to bed, the kids have been sleeping in until about 9:30 or so. Breakfast will be after that. "

"Perfect I can eat the leftovers now and be hungry again by breakfast." Booth laughed and headed inside. He slipped his shoes off and went to the bedroom and carefully laid down next to Brennan, she stirred. "Booth, why are you up?"

"I had a talk with Aubrey. He and Jessica had a fight, he's going to call her later and talk it out. I told him to invite her here."

"Good. I hope they can work it out, they're good for each other. They kind of remind me of us without the overly complicated pasts."

"Me too, but I think they'll be fine. Oh Aubrey is eating the leftovers from last night. He says he'll be hungry again by the time the kids are up for breakfast."

Brennan laughed, "At least his appetite has returned. I guess I need to make two breakfast casseroles today."

"It wouldn't hurt, but lay here a little bit longer…."

"Okay."


	6. Chapter 6

Part 3

 **A/N This is the LAST CHAPTER of my beach story. Sorry is so late, RL is still being a demanding biotch. Special Thanks to Mphs95 for letting me borrow Jessica's brothers for part of the story. I have the prompt for 07/03 written, I will post it tomorrow. I have an idea for last week (07/10) that I will have hopefully by Thursday.**

* * *

After Booth had fallen back asleep Brennan slid from his arms and headed to the kitchen to start the casseroles. She was topping the last one with cheese when Aubrey came into the kitchen. "Good Morning, Aubrey."

"Good morning, Dr. B, thanks for letting me stay here and for the leftovers, they were great."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed the leftovers. You seem to be in better spirits today than you were last night."

"I am. Jess and I got in a fight, but after talking to Booth I think we can work it out."

Brennan nodded, "that's good. I don't know the specifics of your disagreement with Ms. Warren, but from watching your relationship develop I can surmise that you wanted to move to the next step, when you informed Ms. Warren of your desire she balked."

"Basically. I hardly had the words out of my mouth when she started refusing I asked why but she just left and wouldn't take my calls. I don't get it, I asked her and it was like something snapped and she freaked out. I want what you and Booth have, the relationship, not the crazy psychopath killers stalking you and all that… I thought Jess was the one…"

Brennan picked up the last casserole and put it in the oven. "Ms. Warren is a lot like me, and academically that's a good thing, but socially it's not. From the beginning of our partnership I pushed Booth away, I don't have many regrets but that's the biggest one. I was afraid I'd let myself get close to him and he'd leave me. If that had happened I don't think I'd survived, I almost didn't when he was with Hannah that was one of the hardest periods in our relationship. No matter how hard I pushed or what I did he was there. Well, until Hannah, she threw everything into a tailspin. The second he told me that he met someone there I felt extremely sad, like I'd lost my best friend and I had. Angela is my best girlfriend, but Booth is my best friend. It took him falling in love with and almost marring someone else to make me realize I loved him, I always had. I dated others during the early years of our partnership, but I found myself comparing them to Booth. We had our moments where we could have had something, but Booth drew the line and neither of us were brave enough to cross it. Then Mr. Nigel Murray was killed…"

"Brennan-"

"What I'm saying is don't let her push you away, don't push Ms. Warren into anything she isn't ready for, but don't walk away. This is going to be hard for her given her upbringing."

"I know, Booth said the same things. I'm not going to leave her. I'm going to try calling her later, it's too early still."

"Good. I switched her schedule at the lab with Wendell's so she's free this week."

"Thanks, Doctor B."

'You're welcome."

"Do you need help?"

"You can cut up the fruit for the fruit salad. I'm going to make cinnamon rolls."

"Homemade or canned?"

"Homemade…"

"Sweet!" Brennan laughed and pulled out a bag of flour. An hour later Christine walked into the kitchen. "Mommy I'm hungry!"

"Breakfast will be ready soon. Go wake up daddy, but don't jump on the bed."

"Okay. "Christine skipped off toward Booth and Brennan's bedroom.

"Is Booth really okay?"

"Yes, the wound healed nicely, it showed no sign of infection. I'm assuming the removal the tissue on the inside and the repairs made to his stomach are healing well too. Booth is regaining his strength every day. The first week we were here Booth needed a nap after lunch more than Christine and Hank did. It was hard to keep Christine quiet so he could rest. Now the challenge is keeping Booth entertained so he doesn't wake up the kids."

Aubrey laughed, "That's good."

"It really is, when he was missing there were times I thought I'd never see him again. Then when I saw how badly he was hurt I thought he might not make it."

"Bones, I'm fine." Booth pulled Brennan to him, she wanted to lean into him, but instead she carefully moved away. "Booth, be careful, you could pull something."

Booth grinned, "I love you, Bones."

"I love you too, Booth."

After everyone left for the beach Aubrey went out on the deck and dialed Jessica. A half hour later he stood next to Booth. "Jess took my call. She's coming here so we can talk face to face. She'll be on her way as soon she packs and finds someone to watch Skinner."

"That's good. You two will work this out and everything will be fine, you'll see."

"I hope so, to be honest I don't know what I'll do without her."

"I feel the same way about Bones…"

"Uncle Aubrey will you look for shells with me?"

"Sure, munchkin." Aubrey took Christine's hand and headed down the beach. Booth smiled and closed his eyes. Late that morning Brennan was sitting on the deck when Jessica's car pulled in the driveway. The intern exited her car and quickly walked on to the deck. "Hey, Doctor B."

"Hello, Jessica. Everyone is at the beach. I'm waiting for Hank to wake up from his nap then we'll join everyone."

"Sounds good. Doctor B, how did you know?"

"How did I know Booth was the one?"

"Yeah…"

"I always knew on some level, but didn't act on it for a multitude of reasons. Before we went overseas he told me he wanted someone to spend the next 30, 40, or 50 years with, I told him I couldn't be that person. As soon as the words were out of my mouth I regretted it, Booth looked so sad. He said he understood at that we could still work together, but he needed to move on. It hurt me to hear him say that, I always thought he'd always be there for me. When he came back with Hannah I was very upset with him for finding someone else. I could tell from the second I met her she was in love with Booth the soldier and not Booth the person. When he announced to Sweets and I at the diner that he was going to propose it was very hard news to take. When they broke up I was determined to make our partnership work. It scared me, but after losing Mr. Nigel Murray like we did it made me realize how fragile life really is and it just felt like it was the right time to be with Booth."

"Yeah, but you and Booth fit together, like two halves of a whole."

"As do you and Aubrey. Maybe better than us, you're not socially awkward like I am."

"You're not socially awkward, Doctor B."

"I am. Though I'm not as much as I was when Booth and I met. Looking back I don't know how or why he stayed with me. Booth has helped me work out my social awkwardness over the years. I know it has been difficult."

"I'm afraid that one day Aubrey will have had enough of me and all my oddities and leave, I don't think I could handle it."

Brennan smiled, "Jessica, Aubrey is loyal, like Booth, he's not going to leave you without a fight."

"But what-"

"No. talk to him, he wants to work through this." Just then Hank woke up. "Give me a few minutes to get Hank changed and then we'll walk down to everyone. Aubrey is probably ready for a break, Christine and Michael Vincent are keeping him busy building things out of sand."

Jessica smiled, "Okay." Ten minutes later Brennan and Jessica stopped to watch Aubrey with the kids. "He'll be a good father someday…"

"Yes, Aubrey will be an excellent father someday." Brennan continued to the group. "Christine, Michael Vincent, let's go play in the waves for a while. Uncle Aubrey needs a break."

"Okay." Once the kids were walking away Aubrey moved to stand across from Jessica. "Jess, you made it. You're earlier than I thought you'd be."

"After you called I threw a weeks' worth of shorts, shirts, and a couple swim suits in a duffle bag and loaded up skinner, his food, litterbox, toys and that blanket form the couch and took him to Jason's. Maddie had her tonsils out a few days ago, I thought Skinner would cheer her up…"

"Maddie will love that…"

"Yeah. Jason thinks I'm crazy for coming up here. He also wants to beat you up for upsetting me. Actually Michael, Stephan, Aaron, Jack, and Jason wanted to go to your apartment and beat you to a pulp…"

Aubrey swallowed, Jessica chuckled. "Relax Superman, they calmed down once I reminded them that assaulting a Federal Agent comes with jail time. They're all still pissed at you, even though I told them I was the one that said no and left."

"Well they're your big brothers, it's natural for them to want to protect you from things that upset you. Look, Jess, I didn't mean to freak you out by suggesting we move in together. I just thought that since we spent so much time together that it would be more practical, but if you still want to do our sleepovers we can. I can move in with you if that would be better for you… "

"I want very much to move in with you, Aubrey…"

"Okay we can move you in when we get back, if you don't want to wait I'm sure Booth and Brennan wouldn't mind if we left tonight."

Jessica laughed and kissed Aubrey. "Slow down Superman. I want to move in with you, but I'm afraid to…"

"Why would you be afraid to move in with an FBI agent? I mean I know I'm not as good with a gun as Booth is, but really no one is. I'm not ex-Military either, but I can and will protect you, Jess."

"I'm not afraid to move in with you because you're an FBI agent who isn't Military trained. I'm afraid because what if you get tired of me and want out?"

"Jessica, that won't happen in a million years. Year million and one I might reconsider our arrangement." Jessica laughed and slapped Aubrey in the arm "Ow!"

"I'm serious! What if my intelligence gets too much for you? It's been a deal breaker before…"

"Jess, I love that you're super smart, I think it's sexy…"

"Really?"

"Yes, I don't care that half the time I don't understand half of what you said. I think your element collection is cool, but slightly creepy. I don't mind the smell of catnip tea anymore, but I couldn't drink the stuff."

"It's good and good for you. If you left me I don't know what I'd do. It would metaphorically crush me I think. You're really the first guy I've been with that I've felt that way about."

Aubrey smiled, "I feel the same way about you, Jess. When you left and wouldn't take my calls I felt like I couldn't breathe, I didn't know what I was going to do without you. I told myself I was going to get you back if it was the last thing I did. I was so upset when I got here last night I couldn't even eat the dinner Doctor B. made for me."

"Sorry Superman. I needed time to think about things and about what I wanted to do. I was going to all you today to talk…"

"Do you want to go home?"

"No. let's hang out here with everyone for a few days. I was going to come out here this weekend anyway. When we get back I'll start moving my stuff into your place, if you still want me to, that is."

"Of course I do, Jess, but if you don't want to I can move into your place…"

"No your place is better, quieter. I'll be back, I'm gonna change into my suit."

"Okay. My room is the second on the left, it's got twin beds but we can push them together or something."

"Okay." Aubrey watched Jessica walk back to the house. Booth came toward him, "Things work out?"

"Yeah, Jess wants to hang out here with everyone for a few days, then she's gonna move in with me. Thanks, Booth."

"You're welcome."

Everyone spent time together for the rest of the day. That night Booth was lying in bed next to Brennan. "today was a good day I'm glad Aubrey and Jessica worked it out."

"Me too, I have the feeling that we'll be going to their wedding soon."

"Going with your gut, Bones?"

"Maybe a little…"

"It will be good for them. I don't know if I like them sharing a room with small children in the next room. If Christine or Michael Vincent see or hear anything they shouldn't, Aubrey and the junior squint are explaining it."

"Booth, they're in twin beds… I'd be more concerned about Hodgins and Angela… She wants another baby."

"They can push the beds together. You know how make up sex is, Bones."

Brennan turned and kissed Booth, "Yes I do, and as soon as the doctor clears you to resume normal activity we're leaving the kids with dad or Angela and having our own version."

"I can't wait…"

"Neither can me. I love you, Booth."

"Love you too, Bones. "

A few days later Cam came in time for their bonfire. After s'mores and hotdogs she started walking down the beach, Booth easily caught up with her. "What's wrong, Cam?"

"Nothing, Seeley."

"Camille…"

Cam smiled a little and looked at Booth. "Don't call me Camille."

"Don't call me Seeley. All right what's the problem?"

"Michelle informed me of her post college plans."

"Grad school to get her Masters in psychology, right?"

"That was the plan. Now she wants to go to the police academy…"

"That's not so bad…"

"It's not, but it'll make me worry more…"

"Yeah, but at least she'll have means to defend herself. She wouldn't have that option in a psychologist office with people she knows are imbalanced…"

"Not really helping, Booth…"

"I'm just saying she might be a little bit safer as a cop… you can help her. I can teach her a lot of my gun skills… she'll be fine…"

"Yeah… how are you?"

"I'm okay. Max is coming at the end of the month to stay with the kids while Bones and I go see my doctor. I hope he lifts the restrictions so I can have a few days here to play with them like I want to before we go home."

"He should, you look good. Last time I saw you, you looked like death warmed over."

"Last time you saw me I felt like death warmed over…" Cam laughed and headed toward their group.

The day before Booth's doctor appointment, Max came down. "This is a nice place, Tempe."

"It is, we've greatly enjoyed our time here. It has helped Booth's recovery immensely. It is going to be very hard to leave."

"Booth's doing okay isn't he?"

"Yes, the wound healed nicely, it showed no sign of infection. I'm assuming the removal the tissue on the inside and the repairs made to his stomach are healing well too. Booth is regaining his strength every day. The first week we were here Booth needed a nap after lunch more than Christine and Hank did. It was hard to keep Christine quiet so he could rest. Now the challenge is keeping Booth entertained so he doesn't wake up the kids."

Max laughed, "That's good."

"It is."

The next day Booth and Brennan left before the kids got up and returned just as Max was putting a lasagna in the oven, Christine was sitting at the counter watching. Max started to say something when he saw Booth enter the kitchen, he held a finger to his lips and snuck up behind Christine and lifted her off the stool. The little girl squealed and tried to get away until she realized Booth was holding her. "Daddy!"

"Hey Monkey! Guess what?"

"What?"

"I'm all better, the doctor says I can do whatever I want. We can play and do whatever you want tomorrow.'

"Yea!" Christine snuggled into Booth's shoulder. "Don't go to sleep, Christine. Dinner will be ready soon."

"I'm not, mommy…." A few minutes later Booth grinned at Brennan, 'She's out cold."

Brennan smiled and walked over to Booth and kissed him, "I'm not surprised, you haven't really held her in over two months."

"Yeah. Should I wake her?"

"No, she can eat later."

"Okay."

Five days later Booth and Brennan were packing. "I don't want to leave tomorrow, Bones. This has been the best vacation ever despite how it started."

"I concur. This house is actually for sale, the owners no longer wish to own rental property. It has no bookings until Labor Day. I was thinking we could purchase it for our own use. We could come here whenever we want and have big vacations like this with our family and friends."

"That would be nice, but I can't afford this place."

"But WE can, we have more money in our joint account than we'll ever need in three lifetimes. Let's spend some of it on something we'll all enjoy…."

"Okay." Two weeks later Booth and Brennan unpacked furnishings at their newly acquired beach house. "Christine is going to be so happy when we tell her the house is ours and we can come here whenever we want."

"I know. I can't wait to tell her."

"Me either. I'm glad this weekend is just for us though."

"Me too, you have no idea…"


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N This is the prompt for the WEEK of JULY 3…**

 **~Story must be a one shot. Length is unimportant, even drabbles are welcome.**

 **~Story must start with the phrase, "This might burn a little."**

 **~Story must end with one of the following phrases (Author's choice):**

 **~"And that's why your grandmother is not allowed to go to Chuck E Cheese alone."**

 **~"And that's why the monkey was covered in peanut butter."**

 **~"And that's why you never drive through a Civil War re-enactment."**

 **~"And that's why I needed to buy the KY Yours and Mine in bulk."**

 **~"And that's why Great Grandma was bounced from the strip club covered in spaghetti with a titanium spork in her mouth."**

 **~"And that's why you should always vacuum the grotto."**

* * *

"Hold still Booth. This might burn a little." Brennan dabbed the cotton ball with antiseptic on it over the small cut on Booth's forehead. "Ow, damn Bones. It feels like you just put a flamethrower on my forehead!"

Brennan smirked, "if I had you'd be in a lot more pain than you are right now. How'd you hurt yourself anyway?"

"After you left with Christine, I stretched out on the couch to watch the game. I fell asleep and woke up to a crash. I came in here to find the brand new economy size jar of peanut butter on the floor shattered into a million pieces. Hank was sitting in the middle of all the peanut butter and glass trying to slather a celery stick with peanut butter, glass and all…"

"He didn't eat it did he?"

"No. I checked his mouth and didn't see glass or blood."

That's good, but it doesn't explain how you cut yourself or how Hank's monkey is a blob of organic creamy peanut butter. Hopefully I can wash him …"

"I was trying to spare the monkey when I slipped on a glob of peanut butter and conked my head on the corner if the cabinet." Brennan smiled and pressed a kiss to Booth's forehead.

"…Bananas went airborne and landed head first in another glob, and that's why the monkey is covered in peanut butter."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: The prompt for the week of 07/10/17 is: This week's is an Anything Goes Drabble challenge. The topic can be anything, but the fic must be a series of 5 drabbles (100 words or less each) that are connected in some way. They can be connected by theme, by character subject, by anything...as long as they are connected drabbles. All drabbles will be posted as one story separated by B&B…

B&B

They'd known each other and been partners for nineteen and half years (and still counting), the longest partnership in FBI history. Their tenth anniversary was a week away, Booth couldn't believe they'd made it that far. By all accounts they shouldn't have, all the hell they'd been through early in their marriage would have broken a normal person, but Brennan wasn't normal she was extraordinary. Their anniversary was normally low key and spent with the kids, at Brennan's request, but Booth wanted to make this one special. He planned dinner at home for two with candles, wine and slow dancing.

B&B

After getting Angela to pick up the kids from school and keep them overnight Booth went in search of the perfect gift. The traditional tenth anniversary gift was something made from tin. The modern gift was diamonds. Booth decided to get Brennan both, knowing she liked old fashioned things he had their newest family photo reprinted as a tintype photograph. He got her small diamond earrings that she could wear every day without looking too dressy. The final thing he did was order a bouquet of daisies and daffodils to be delivered to the lab.

B&B

On their anniversary Booth left work early and stopped at the store to get the ingredients for Brennan's favorite mushroom lasagna, Creaser salad, and homemade garlic bread. For desert he picked up a traditional carrot cake from Brennan's favorite bakery. Brennan came home just as Booth was tossing the salad. "Happy anniversary, Bones."

"Thank you. Happy anniversary to you too, Booth. Thanks for the flowers, they're beautiful. I left them at the lab."

"You're welcome, Bones. The kids are at Angela's until tomorrow afternoon. Have a seat, dinner is ready. We're having mushroom lasagna, Creaser salad, homemade garlic bread, and carrot cake."

B&B

"Dinner was delicious, Booth. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Bones. We'll have the cake later. Grab your wine and sit on the couch." Booth returned a few minutes later with two carefully wrapped Boxes.

"Booth, I didn't get you anything!"

"Yes you did, ten years and two months ago, you made me the happiest guy on the planet when you agreed to marry me. In the last decade we've been through hell and back more than once and through it all you've been by my side. Just being here for the last decade is the greatest gift you could have given me. Open your gifts."

B&B

"Booth, the tintype is beautiful, I love it."

"I thought you would like it, I'll hang it in the morning." Brennan nodded and picked up the second box, she carefully opened it. "Diamond earrings?"

"Yeah, a traditional tenth anniversary gift is tin. The modern gift is diamonds. I decided to get you both. I got small diamonds so you could wear them every day if you wanted." Brennan replaced her earrings with the new ones. "How do they look?"

"Perfect. Dance with me?"

"Always." Booth took Brennan in his arms and kissed her deeply as the music started.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: The prompt for the next TWO weeks is: "What if various Bones characters have met in the past just for a moment in time? Some remember later some don't."**

 **So there it is. What if Brennan and Booth had met when they were younger and neither remembered until something comes up to remind them? What if Aubrey and Hodgins had been in the same class in college? Use your imagination and come up with something really wild. This suggestion will cover the next two weeks so we want to see you do several possibilities! Do a multi-chapter fic with several pairings or a one-shot. We don't mind, just give us your weirdest and wackiest! Good luck!**

 **The first chapter will have two meetings. Next week I'll post a second chapter with two more meetings.**

* * *

When Brennan had moved in with Booth before Christine was born over 20 years ago she put a lot of her things in storage. Now that Christine was moving in to her first post college apartment Brennan was going through her storage space to see if she had anything that Christine could use. She found a chair, a set of like new pots and pans, a set of dishes, and a few throw rugs. After setting them aside Brennan started looking through more boxes. She was looking through a stack of papers when Booth came to her side. "Bones, I found these cool planters, if Christine doesn't want them I'm going to use them at home." Booth put the planters with the things Brennan found and sat down in the chair. "What are you looking at?"

"I found my notes from my first lecture at Quantico on body recovery."

Booth sat back in the chair, "I remember when I had to go to one of those lectures. We're all siting in the room waiting and all the sudden the door slams shut with this big bang and this woman comes in she looked greener than we did….Oh my God, it was you!"

Brennan smirked, "My first lecture was May 19, 2002…"

"Yeah, I was at Quantico then."

"What I remember about the lecture is there was some hotshot agent in the back of the room who ten minutes into it shouted, 'science doesn't solve murders, guys like me do!' I wonder what happened to him?"

"You know what happened to him, you're looking right at him…"

"I know. I recognized your voice on our first case…"

"And you never said anything all these years?"

"No. That little bit of knowledge that you didn't remember gave me more motivation to prove to you that you did need me and my team."

"Bones, I'll always need you…and the squints. I can't believe we've known each other for almost 35 years. Let's load this stuff up and go get some pie to celebrate!"

"I don't like my fruit cooked, haven't the last 35 years taught you anything?"

Booth laughed and crossed to Brennan and kissed her. "They've taught me a lot, Bones. Some of it I'd love to forget but not all of it." Booth picked the box of dishes, "let's go! My pie and your cheesecake are waiting…"

Brennan shook her head and picked up the box of pots and pans then she followed Booth to the SUV.

B&B

Hodgins was helping Michael Vincent find photos for a family tree project for social studies class.

"Dad, where did you get this?" Michael Vincent held up a large piece of drawing paper, Hodgins looked up and shook his head. "I forgot all about that. Mom drew it a long time ago…"

"When you were my age?"

Hodgins laughed, "No, we were a little bit older than you when she drew it. Before mom and I started working together she drew people's portraits in the park. I was walking by one day and she drew it… I forgot about it until now…"

"Oh, cool." Michael Vincent started to roll the picture back up and put it back in the box. "Leave it out, buddy."

"Okay."

A few hours later Hodgins wheeled into Angela's studio, she looked up from her painting. "Hey Hodgins, did you find all the pictures Michael Vincent needs for his project?"

"Yeah, we found some cute ones of you and your dad before his beard got so long. Michael didn't think it was Billy at first. He's going to use those so maybe no one will recognize who he is."

"Good call though I doubt the kids know who ZZ Top is."

"Yeah, but his teacher might. We also found something else." Hodgins unrolled the drawing and handed it to Angela. "Oh my God where did you get this?"

"You drew it the day we met in the park, remember?"

"No…"

"I was running late for meeting my date and I cut through the grass instead of taking the path, we were meeting not far from where you were set up. I wasn't paying attention and ran into you, you dropped what you were carrying and cussed me out. I apologized and went on. A half hour later when my date stood me up I was heading back and you called me over and handed it to me… I forgot about having it until Michael Vincent found it tonight."

"I don't remember meeting you or drawing this… it's crazy that after all these years we're together…"

"Yeah, I should have asked you out…"

"I would've said yes…"

"Good to know…"

"I think I'm going to frame it and hang it in here…"

"Really?"

"Yeah, as a reminder of how far we've come. I miss doing it, on a cool clear weekend I made a good chunk of change."

"You still can on the weekends you know."

"I'd rather spend my weekends with you and Michael Vincent."

"We can come with you and hang out, Michael Vincent would love it."

"Maybe. I'll have to think about it."

"Okay."

A/N2: See ya next week (or before) for two more meetings...


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: this is the second chapter and final two meetings in this week's and last week's challenge.

Brennan walked up the front stairs of Hodgins' mansion and rang the bell, she was meeting Angela to go shopping for a dress to wear to the annual Jeffersonian gala.

"Hey Dr. B. Angie is in her studio working on a drawing her dad wanted her to do for their new tour merchandise next year. She said you can go on back."

"Thanks Hodgins." Brennan wound her way around to the back of the house to what used to be a summer kitchen and now was Angela's studio.

"Ange?" Angela looked up from her drawing table.

"Sweetie, give me a few minutes to finish coloring this in and scan it so I can email it to dad so he can look it over and either give it to the printers or send it back for a redo. This is the third time I've re done it."

"Take your time, I'm in no hurry to go shopping anyway." Angela chuckled and went back to her drawing. Brennan looked at the paintings and drawing that were framed and hung on the walls. Most of them she'd seen over the years, but there were a few new pieces.

"I've always loved this one, Ange. Just something about the colors." Angela looked up and smiled Brennan was looking at a painting of a twilight lightning storm she painted one night when she was visiting her dad.

"I don't know where you would have seen it, Bren. I painted it before we met and it's been in storage until a few weeks ago."

Brennan shrugged, "I just feel like I've seen it before."

Angela turned from her scanner,"wait, there was a local art show at The Long View gallery a few months after I painted it. I put it on display there."

"Pete used to take me to those thinking it would help my lack of social skills."

"Did they?"

"Not really. I did find pieces I loved though some I bought."

"I think that show was in April of 2005. I usually stayed at the gallery for showings to see people's reactions to my art and talk to them about it if they wanted."

"I was with Pete then. Maybe we met and didn't realize it…"

"Maybe. Let's go shopping…"

Monday morning Brennan found the painting in her office with Angela standing next to it. "Bren, I decided since you like the painting so much you can have it."

"If you're sure, Ange."

"I am. I've got a lot of pieces in storage, I need to go through them and see what I want to keep and what I can part with."

"Thank you, Angela. I'll have Booth hang it in our living room tonight."

"You're welcome, Sweetie."

B&B

Cam sighed as she pulled to a stop in Booth and Brennan's driveway, she couldn't believe it Booth had retired from the FBI. He hadn't wanted anyone to make a fuss about it, but Brennan insisted on having a party for him. She picked up the gift she got him and got out of her car. Cam followed the noise to the back yard, she smiled when she saw Booth looked so relaxed talking to Hodgins with a beer in his hand. Adding her gift to the pile on a small table Cam headed for Brennan and Angela. A few hours later everyone was eating the catered barbeque dinner from Booth's favorite place Cam sat down in the lawn chair next to him. "Hey Seeley."

Booth looked over and grinned a little, "Hey Camille."

"Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yeah, even though I told Bones no party. All I wanted to do was celebrate with her and the kids but…"

"You did didn't you? She left early on your last day…"

"Yeah, she made macaroni and cheese and Christine made a lopsided badly frosted cake, but it tasted good."

"That's the important thing. Has it hit you yet that you're retired?"

"No, I think it will when Bones leaves for the lab and I take the kids to school… I'll enjoy it though, I'm still young enough to do stuff and the kids are still young enough to do things with. It's going to be wired not going to work every day. I went from high school to the Army to college to finish my degree then to the FBI. I could teach at the academy again I guess…"

"Take a few weeks to relax and then go to the HR department at the Jeffersonian, they're going to start looking for a new daytime security guard for the lab at the beginning of next month…"

"Bones would think I applied just to be around her all day…."

"Yeah, but despite what she tells you she likes that you always check on her. Just think about it and talk to Brennan about it."

"I will."

"Do you remember how we met?"

Booth smiled, "yeah, you busted somebody that the FBI had been watching for months. I was sent to get the suspect and all your evidence, it was my first solo case… you didn't want to hand over anything to the feds…"

"Well, you came in all cocky and acting like you were the only FBI agent on the planet. It took all I had not to kick your ass."

"Yeah I was an ass in the beginning."

"You really were. Then you used that stupid charm smile on me and the next thing I knew you had my suspect and all the evidence in your SUV and I was giving you my number!"

"…And we met for drinks a week later…"

"We had dinner the next night…"

"Then you came to my crappy apartment for the weekend."

"That apartment was horrible."

"It was. We had good times together though."

"We did then you got transferred here and I got the coroner job..."

"Then you got that cold case and begged me to take a look at it and you told me to get Bones to help me out…"

"Yeah, the rest is history as they say."

"Yeah. Thanks for that by the way."

"You're welcome, Seeley." Cam leaned over and kissed Booth's cheek. Three weeks later Brennan smiled at Booth as she made her way to the platform.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: The new prompt is: Write a one-shot in which one of the six regular characters is moving. It can be anyone and they can be moving for any reason, but you must include 2 the following: a lame joke that no one finds funny, a reference to an old movie, Parker, ice cream, a kiss, something broken during the move. It can be any length in any format, as long as it follows the above rules. Good luck!**

 **This takes place mid-season the purposes of this story Parker has NOT disappeared to England…**

* * *

Booth couldn't believe it he and Brennan were moving in together and in a short two weeks, give or take, their new baby daughter would be in their arms. As much as he'd wanted to fix up the mighty hut himself with help from Wendell, Brennan gently reminded him that their baby was due six weeks and she wanted the house done before then. They made a deal Brennan could pay for a large team of construction workers to make repairs to the house, but Christine's room was Booth's job. By some miracle and Brennan's large bank account the house was remodeled and Christine's room was done in four weeks. Booth and Brennan had been slowly moving their things into the house and garage for the last two weeks. Today he was helping Parker go through the things he had at his apartment and pack what he wanted to keep. "Dad, will I have to live with mom all the time since you live with Bones and the baby now?"

Booth put down the roll of packing tape, "Parker why would you think that?"

"Because, the baby needs a room and I'm not sharing with a baby, especially a girl…"

Booth laughed, "Parker, we have four bedrooms. One for you, one for your sister, one for me and Bones and one for whoever decides to crash with us once and a while."

"Good."

Booth looked at his watch, "we don't have time today before I take you back to your mom, but Wednesday when I pick you up afterschool we'll stop by the new house so you can see it if we haven't moved into it already."

"Okay. Since you have the new hose and are living with Bones can I stay with you every weekend?"

"I wish you could, Parker, but you need to spend time with your mom too."

"I know but she works most weekends and I have to go to Mrs. Morris' house next door. She's old and the house smells weird, she only watches classic westerns. Plus her cat, muffin, glares at me the whole time."

Booth chuckled a little, "I can't promise anything, but I'll talk to mom and Bones about you coming to our house when she works on the weekends."

"Okay."

"Mom and I talked a few weeks ago and you get to come over and see your sister for a little while when she's born even if it isn't my day to see you."

"Cool."

"Yeah, lets finish packing and get these boxes loaded in the SUV before it's time to go."

"Okay."

After taking Parker home Booth dropped his stuff off at the new house before heading to Brennan's apartment for the night.

"Did you have a good weekend with Parker, Booth?"

"Yeah, we went to the movies and the park. Then last night and today we packed his stuff. I didn't realize he had so much packed into his bedroom. We got rid of maybe a third of what he had."

"That's good. Does he want a new bedroom set?"

"No, he just asked for new sheets, solid colors or plaid. He says he's too old for cartoon character sheets now."

Brennan smiled and kissed Booth's cheek. "I'll get them tomorrow when I go get ours for our new bed."

"Okay. Are you sure you should go shopping?"

"I'm fine, Booth. Besides Angela is coming with me, she's just as concerned as you are."

"Good. I talked to Parker he was worried that he wouldn't be able to stay with us because he wouldn't have a bed or need to share a room with Christine. I told him that he had his own room and that we'd stop by the house Wednesday so he could see it. Parker also asked if he could stay with us every weekend now that we're living together. When I reminded him he needed to spend time with Rebecca he said she works most weekends and he spends them with the neighbor. I told him I'd talk to Rebecca about him staying with us when she works weekends. I wanted to make sure you were okay with Parker spending more time with us before I even brought it up to Rebecca."

"Booth, Parker can spend as much time with us as Rebecca will allow him to."

"Thanks, Bones you're the best."

"You're welcome, Booth. Let's just move in our bed and living room furniture will be delivered Tuesday…"

"Sounds good to me, Bones. We can move in Tuesday night after work and I can go get the rest of our stuff this weekend. Wendell said he was free to help on Saturday."

"That's fine."

Wednesday Booth picked Parker up from school and headed for the new house. Booth took Parker on a tour, the last stop was his room. 'How do you like your room, Bub?"

"It's great! It's way bigger than my old room, but it's the same."

"Not quite." Booth walked to the bed and pulled back the comforter, "Bones got you plaid and solid colored sheets like you wanted."

"Cool."

They made it back to the kitchen just as Brennan was taking a pan of macaroni and cheese out of the oven. "Do you like your room, Parker?"

"Yeah, Bones, it's great. Thanks for the sheets."

"You're welcome, Parker. Go sit down, dinner is ready."

"Okay. " Parker sat at the table, Booth follows with a bowl of green beans. After dinner Brennan helped Parker with his math homework.

Three days later Booth laid an hours old Christine in her crib, "Welcome home, baby girl. I hope you love your room. I know mommy wants you in our room, but she can't rest if she wakes up every time you make a noise and you both need to rest, you've had a big day." Booth watched Christine for another minute then he sat down in the chair in the corner. The next thing Booth knew Brennan was shaking his shoulder. Huh, Bones?"

"Yeah. How's Christine?"

"She's fine. Sleeping like a rock. How are you feeling?"

"Good. I'm still tired, but not as much as before. Did you enjoy your nap?"

"Yeah, I just dozed off for a minute…"

"Go take a nap, I'll be fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Brennan kissed Booth. "I love you, Booth."

"I love you too, Bones." Booth stood up and walked to the crib and checked on Christine before heading to the bedroom next door.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: After a hiatus the prompts are back. We have a list to choose from for the rest of October. The first one I'm going to choose is: What if Booth were badly injured while Brennan was on the run between Seasons 7 and 8?**

* * *

Jeffersonian:

Cam wandered into Angela's office looking shocked. "Cam, what's wrong?"

"Booth's been shot, Angela."

"Oh my God. How did it happen? I thought he was on desk duty because of Brennan."

"He is, but they needed a sniper and you know Booth is the best shot the FBI has ever had. I don't know what happened exactly, all I know is he was shot below the vest and is in surgery at UVA medical center. He listed me as emergency contact in case something happened to him and Brennan when they were out in the field. The nurse on duty apparently doesn't care that the FBI told her not to contact us and did it anyway. Flynn called me all pissed off about it, but told me why Booth was out in the field and where he got hit."

"Well at least he did that much. Let me get Hodgins and we can go to UVA. I hope nothing happens to Booth, it will kill Brennan and I don't mean metaphorically."

"I know that's my worry too. And Booth not having a reason to recover because Brennan isn't there for him."

"This could be very bad for both of them."

"Yeah."

B&B

A hotel somewhere on the East Coast:

Today was day forty two on the run for Brennan and Christine. Brennan was currently trying to get her to eat strained peas. "Christine, come on, open up peas are yummy! You love them…." Christine turned her head away from Brennan. Max had the TV on for updates on Brennan's case.

 _"…In other news, FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth was shot by a suspect. Agent Booth is in critical but stable condition at UVA medical center. The suspect was killed at the scene…"_

The spoonful of peas fell out of Brennan's hand and hit the floor. Max turned to her, "Tempe?"

"Dad, I have to go see Booth…"

"Tempe, I'm sorry but you can't do that…"

"Dad, the only person I love as much as I love Christine has been shot and is lying in a hospital bed in Virginia in critical but stable condition! I'm going to go see him!"

"No, Tempe you can't. You know as well as I do that this is a trap, the FBI only released his name, injury and what hospital he's in because they know that you'll risk everything to see Booth. He may not even be as hurt as they say, these are the same people who faked his death four years ago…"

"Booth wouldn't let the FBI fake his injuries again…"

"Honey Booth isn't on good terms with the FBI right now, he might not have a choice in the matter."

"I need to see him, dad…"

Max sighed, "Give me a day to figure out how you can get in his room without anyone knowing it's you. They're going to have guards all over his room and the floor he's on looking out for you."

"I'll give you one day dad, then I'm leaving to go see Booth…"

"Okay, Tempe."

"I need to be alone for a little while…"

"Sure…" Max watched Brennan leave the hotel room, then he turned his attention to Christine.

"Your daddy is going to be just fine Christine. Let's get you something else for dinner, how about pears? You love them." Once Christine was fed, changed, and down for the night Max looked out the window to find Brennan sitting at the rickety picnic table across from their room. He let her be and started making calls. Just as Max was hanging up the phone Brennan came back inside. "Hey, Tempe are you feeling better?"

"No, but I'll be okay. Did Christine go down okay?"

"Yeah after a jar of pears and a few bites of peas…" Brennan smiled a little. "I made some calls and some buddies of mine are working on a way for you to see Booth. You won't be able to see him very long, it's the best I can do…"

"Thanks, dad."

"Sure, honey."

The next day Max left after breakfast to go get the plan for Brennan to see Booth in place. "Tempe, I'll be gone most of the day. If I'm not back by 6 go to the next place and wait for me there. Don't worry, you'll still get to see Booth, I promise."

"Okay." After he left Brennan sat on the floor with Christine and played with her until naptime then tried to keep herself occupied so she wouldn't worry about Booth. Brennan was feeding Christine green beans when Max came back. "It's all set, you're going to be a volunteer that brings people magazines and stuff like that. We're leaving tomorrow and you can see Booth the next day. Your outfit and new hair color are in here." Max handed Brennan a bag, she pulled out the hair dye. "Red?"

"Yeah, Sam picked it out, he has a thing for redheads…" Max shrugged.

"That is something I didn't need to know…."

"Your name is Tracie by the way. It was Pete's choice. I kind of like it."

Brennan finished feeding Christine and got her to sleep. Then she went to the bathroom and started coloring her hair while Max started packing up their stuff. Early the next morning Brennan put a sleeping Christine in her car seat and they headed to Virginia.

"Thanks for doing this, dad, I know it's dangerous for us to be going to see Booth, but I need to."

"You're welcome, Tempe. If something does happen to you while you're doing this I will take Christine and go to the next place. If something happens to me Pete and his wife will take care of her. They have kids, Tracie is his oldest daughter she's does people's hair. They have a way of getting in contact with Russ if it comes to that."

"Okay." It was midafternoon when Max pulled into the Red Cardinal inn parking lot. At least this place looks nicer than the last one…"

"It is, they remodeled it a few months ago." They got settled and found a park to take Christine for a little while. The next morning Brennan got ready to go to her volunteer job as Tracie, a stay at home mom who was volunteering once a month.

Brennan found she actually enjoyed the day until she got to the hallway that lead to Booth's room. She visited the neighboring rooms and then mentally prepared herself before she went inside his room. The Agent outside the door glanced at her I.D. and went back to playing with his phone. Brennan squared her shoulders and pushed the cart into Booth's room and started her spiel. Booth didn't look too bad considering the large bandage that covered most of his right side. Brennan quickly grabbed his chart and read it. He had two bullet wounds on his side while both were serious they had missed his organs and arteries. They had him heavily medicated to help with the pain. Brennan breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Booth hadn't had any reaction to the antiesthetic used when they removed the bullets. He was expected to make a complete recovery. Brennan put the chart down and went to his bedside, she held Booth's hand "Booth, I'm here, you're going to be fine. I'm fine and Christine is fine. She's grown a lot. I love you. See you soon." Brennan kissed Booth's forehead and quickly left the room to continue on with her shift. When Brennan got back to the hotel a few hours later, she had to smile, Max and Christine were sleeping with a pile of books beside them. Brennan walked to the bed and started to carefully pick up Christine. Max stirred, "Hey honey. How's Booth?"

Brennan settled Christine on her shoulder and sat down on the bed. "He's okay. He has two bullet wounds on his side, they're serious, but they missed his organs and arteries. He's heavily medicated to help with the pain. He didn't have any reaction to the antiesthetic used when they removed the bullets. The doctor expects him to make a complete recovery."

"That's great. Do you feel better now that you've seen him?"

"Yes, but I wish I could stay here with him."

"I know. I wish I could let you, but it isn't safe for us to stay here."

"I know. Are we leaving tomorrow?"

"Yeah, the next place is a house that we can rent for a week."

"That will be better for us."

"It's kind of in the middle of nowhere, but it has a yard with a swing for peanut."

"She'll love that."

"I know."

"Thanks for today, dad."

"You're welcome, honey."

B&B

Six weeks later Booth and Brennan's bedroom:

It was Brennan's first night back home and with Christine down for the night Booth and Brennan were getting ready for bed.

"Bones, it's going to be so nice having you in bed next to me, I haven't slept well in months."

"Neither have I. I don't want to be apart like that again."

"Me either, Bones." Booth took off his shirt and Brennan sucked in a breath. "Booth…" Brennan reached out and touched the scars on Booth's side. Booth grabbed her hand and pulled her into a kiss. "I'm fine Bones I healed like a champ. It doesn't hurt anymore. Cam took care of me, she wasn't as good as you, but I made it."

"I'm glad, Booth." Booth pulled a t shirt over his head. "You know Bones, I could have sworn you were there. I heard your voice, you told me that you were there that I was going to be fine. You told me that Christine was fine and had grown a lot. Then you told me you loved me and kissed me before you left."

"Booth, you were heavily medicated and dreaming. I wasn't there I was in Maine."

"Yeah, it must have been the meds." Booth climbed in bed and pulled Brennan to him. Once she was settled against him, Booth whispered into Brennan's hair, "Bones, you're a horrible liar, I know you were there."

Brennan smiled a little, "I was there Booth. I heard that you had been shot on the news and needed to see you. Dad didn't want me to, he was afraid that the FBI lied just to get me to come see you and would have guards all over your room and floor, waiting on me to show up and arrest me. I didn't care about that I NEEDED to see you, if I got arrested it didn't matter. Some of Dad's friends worked out a way for me to get in your room. I was a redhead stay at home mom named Tracie who volunteered one day a moth to bring entertainment to patients. The guard outside your door was useless, he hardly glanced at my I.D. and went back to playing on his phone… thankfully you were sedated with pain medication and didn't know I was there. I told you what you said I did and kissed your forehead before I left."

"I'm glad you came to see me, Bones even though you risked getting arrested. If I hadn't been out of it, I wouldn't have arrested you, even though legally I should have."

Brennan chuckled and snuggled deeper into Booth's arms. "I love you, Booth."

"I love you too, Bones." Booth kissed Brennan's hair.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: The next prompt I'm going to do is: Describe what happens immediately after the hug in 8.06, The Patriot in Purgatory.

* * *

Booth held Brennan and let her get out the last decade's worth of bottled up emotions. He rubbed her back and tried to give her as much comfort as she was giving him. It shouldn't have surprised him that after eight years of being her partner, the last year being more than that there was still a lot about Temperance Brennan he didn't know. He knew that they'd used forensic scientists and dentists to help identify remains after the attack, but it hadn't crossed his mind in the last eight years that Brennan might have been one of those called upon. The sound of Christine's cries broke the silence.

"I'll…"

"No, I'll go… you finish dinner."

"Okay." Booth gave Brennan a quick kiss before she could pull away. "I love you, Bones."

"I love you too, Booth."

Brennan went upstairs to Christine and Booth turned his attention back to their dinner. When dinner was done, Brennan was still upstairs with Christine. Booth pulled out his phone and opened the app for the cameras he had installed in the house and pulled up the feed to Christine's room and watched Brennan rock her, as far as Booth could tell Christine wasn't fussing and Brennan didn't seem destressed. Booth put his phone away and went over the fireplace and lit a fire. Brennan came downstairs just as the fire started going good, Booth looked over at her, "Everything okay, Bones?"

"Yes, Christine just needed her diaper changed. I needed to hold her for a little while…" Brennan shrugged and grabbed her glass of wine.

"Totally understandable, Bones. I was still in the Army then and we were told to prepare for deployment, we didn't know where we were going or when, but we had to be ready. That night able to call Rebecca for a few minutes, she was at her apartment with Parker he was only 3 months old. Anyway after assuring her I ws okay and telling her what little I was able, I had her take the phone to Parker's room and I talked to him about nonsense stuff, it didn't matter that he was asleep and would never know I did it, I just had to talk to him. A few days later I got an email from Rebecca with a forty five second video of Parker sleeping. He was on his back with his arms next to his face out cold. That was the best forty five seconds I've seen in a long time. When I was able I made a copy of the video, and put it in my fireproof box with all my important stuff… Let's go sit in front of the fire and eat…" Brennan nodded and followed Booth to the couch. Brennan relaxed against Booth's side. "If you want to talk about it, Bones, I'm here."

"Maybe later… Thanks Booth."

"You're welcome, Bones."


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: The next one I'm going to do is: Christine's reaction to Booth's video from 8.13, The Twist in the Plot. I'm going to put a twist on it though. My brain got an idea and won't let it go.

* * *

"What are you doing, dad?" Christine sat down on the couch next to Booth, he hit the pause button on the DVD player remote.

"Nothing, just watching the end of a video I made for you were a baby. It's things I wanted you to know about me in case I died when you were still small. Your mom was eavesdropping and at the end she came and pounced on me and the camera recorded it. That's the part I keep watching so I can remember how youthful and fun your mom was when she remembered to let go and relax…."

"Aw dad, she didn't have a good day?"

"No, I got there and she didn't know who I was. She told me I looked kind of like her husband, but I was too old to be him. I think she remembers me as the thirty five year old FBI agent I was when we met, not the 83 year old I've become. I went with it and told her about the last fifty two years of our lives together, skipping parts that upset her. I had lunch with her then she laid down for a little while when she got up she knew who I was. She didn't want me to leave her there." Booth backed up the DVD and hit play. When the DVD ended again Christine froze Brennan's face on the screen. "She was so beautiful It's weird to see her so spontaneous, everything was planned. Don't get me wrong some of my best memories are mom playing with me. We always had fun, the best part was when I'd ask to do something gross, she'd always say yes. If you complained about it, she'd say it was for the sake of scientific inquiry. We had the best Halloween decorations in the city. "

"I remember. Your mother is the most beautiful woman I've ever met. She gets more beautiful as she ages. I miss your mother so much, not who she was really, I just miss being around her all the time."

"They said you could move into the assisted living part of the building and mom could stay with you as much as you wanted her to during the day and go back to the memory care unit at night since that's when she has the most issues…"

Three weeks later Booth held Brennan's hand as he led her down the hallway to his new apartment. "Booth, where are we going?"

"We're going to our new apartment, Bones."

"You just finished the house why are we moving again?"

Booth kissed Brennan's cheek, "we decided since Christine and Hank are grown and have kids of their own to sell the house and get something smaller."

"Christine and Hank are grown and have children of their own?"

"Yeah. We have pictures and videos we can look at and watch once we go inside."

"Okay." They walked a few more feet and Booth stopped in front of a door that had a Flyers logo displayed on it. "Here we are, Bones, apartment 206."

"There are 206 bones in the human body, Booth."

Booth chuckled and kissed Brennan, "yes there are, Bones." Booth opened the door and let Brennan walk in. "It's small Booth and it doesn't have a kitchen." Booth put his hands on Brennan's shoulders. "It's big enough for us, Bones. The dining room is down the hall, we had breakfast there today."

"Oh. I like the couch." Brennan picked up a photo off the end table, "Who is this man with Christine Booth? It isn't Parker or Hank…"

"That's Christine and Tim on their wedding day, 20 years ago." Booth picked up another photo and held it where Brennan could see it and pointed to a teenage boy, "this is grandson our Steven, he's 17 and this is our granddaughter Nicole, she's 15."

"She's beautiful."

"Just like her grandma." Booth kissed Brennan again and picked up another photo. "This is Hank and Julia on an anniversary trip to Hawaii. They've been married for 13 years and have 9 year old twins, Kyle and Luke. They're identical, but you can tell them apart."

"Of course Kyle has your chin. Luke favors Julia more than anyone, they have the same facial structure."

Booth smiled and picked up another photo, "This is Parker with Lilly and Zach. Lilly is 10 and Zach is 8."

"He's not married, Booth?"

"Sarah left the kids with Parker 7 years ago and moved to Europe. We actually sold him our house when we moved in here."

"That's nice."

"Let's watch some movies and then go take a walk around the gardens…"

"Okay." Brennan sat next to Booth on the couch and he started the first home movie of Christine's first Christmas. "That's Christine when she was a baby…"

"Yeah, it was her first charismas…"

"You got her too much stuff that year…"

"Santa did, Bones not me…" Brennan laughed and snuggled into Booth's side, he put his arm around her.

Later that night Booth was in Brennan's room waiting for her to get ready for bed. "Booth, I don't understand why we sleep in separate rooms…"

Booth grinned and pulled the covers up around Brennan, "Because my snoring gets on your nerves and you can't sleep."

"You do snore a lot, Booth." Booth laughed and kissed Brennan.

"Goodnight, Bones. I love you.

"I love you, Booth." Booth waited until Brennan was asleep before he headed down to the apartment on the other side of the building.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I've decided to continue the last chapter…

Booth was in the lobby getting his daily paper to check the sports scores and do the daily crossword with Brennan after lunch when Christine came in the door. "Hey dad."

"Hey Christine."

"How's mom today?"

"She's doing better now, earlier this morning she wasn't that great. They had a new nurse on her floor this morning and she got her up before I got there… you know how upset she gets if I'm not there when she wakes up. Thankfully one of the other nurses called me as soon as it happened and I got down there and got her settled down again before she got too riled up and the day was wasted. She knew who I was once she settled down. She wasn't too happy with breakfast, but in her defense the breakfasts on the weekends aren't as good as during the week. She's in the apartment watching home movies like we do every day. "

Christine looked out the window and bit her lip, Booth noticed. "Christine?"

"Steve and Nicki are with me but they don't want to see mom if she's not having a good day…"

Booth shook his head, pulled out his phone and sent his oldest grandkids the same text, 'get your butts in here and see your grandma and me' a few minutes later Steven and Nicole were walking on either side of Booth to the apartment. Booth left Christine and the grandkids in the hall and went inside.

"Hey Bones, Christine, Steven, and Nicole are coming to visit us soon."

"That will be nice we haven't seen them in a while…"

"We haven't." just then Christine knocked on the door. "That's them, go answer it, Bones." Brennan got up and went to the door and opened it. "Hi mom."

"Hello Christine." Christine entered followed by Nicole. "Hello Nicole."

"Hi grandma." Nicole gave Brennan a quick hug.

"Steven, are you rooted to the floor or are you coming inside?" everyone laughed as Steven hugged Brennan and walked inside. "Hey grandma." Brennan shut the door and walked over to the couch and sat next to Booth.

"So Steven what have you been up to?"

"Nothing much, grandpa, I decided what college I'm going to next year…"

"Your mom said you've gotten accepted to quite a few schools which one did you decide on?"

"Harvard for prelaw."

"That's wonderful, Steven!" Brennan quickly looked at Booth, he grinned.

"Thanks, grandma."

"Congratulations, Steven! I don't believe it, my oldest grandson is going to be a lawyer!"

"Booth, I don't see what the problem is you dated lawyers early in our partnership. There was Amy then Tessa…"

"Dad!"

"Grandpa!"

"Bones! You make it sound like I dated a whole firm or something. Amy and I dated way before you and I started working together. She came to me for help because I was the case agent…"

"She wanted to have sex with you…"

"BONES! Okay maybe she did… Anyway Steven I'm proud of you for getting into Harvard and choosing prelaw."

"Thanks."

"Nicole what's new with you?"

"I get to start driver's ED in two weeks!"

"That's great, honey. Hopefully you'll do better than your brother…"

"I did fine, gramps…"

"Really? My mailbox would beg to differ! If you don't believe me Uncle Parker still has it in garage…"

"Yeah, okay maybe I did hit the mailbox…"

Booth chuckled and looked at Brennan, he could tell she'd slipped off into her own little world again. He picked up the remote and started the DVD player "let's watch some more home movies, Bones then go outside for a little while." Booth leaned over and kissed her cheek, Brennan smiled, "okay Booth." After a few more home movies everyone headed outside. "Bones, why don't you show the kids the gardens and pond? You can feed the ducks…" Booth handed Brennan a small package of food he grabbed from the front desk on the way out.

"Okay Booth. " Brennan stood up and held out both of her hands, Steven and Nicole took one and the three of them started down the path.

"I wonder if she sees them as toddlers needing to hold her hand or if she realizes she needs to hold their hands so she won't get lost?"

"A little bit of both I think. On good days your mom knows she has dementia and she accepts it…"

"What is today?"

"Today is an okay day, it would have been a good day if the nurse had waited five more minutes for me to get there before she woke her up. When your mom was diagnosed we were told that it might progress quickly due to her previous memory loss…"

"Wait, mom had previous memory loss? When?"

"The lab blew up the day after Cam's wedding and your mom got hit in the head with debris. She suffered a bruise on her brain that caused her to forget things about bones and stuff. She didn't forget me or you or your brothers just work stuff. She was okay in a few days. In typical Bones fashion your mom recovered quicker than the doctors thought she would…" Booth chuckled a little.

"I don't remember any of that."

"You were six. We didn't tell you because we didn't want to scare you. You and Hank just stayed in my office until we found the guy that blew up the lab. You asked why mom and I had Band-Aids and we told you we got hurt at work, but we were fine and you went back to playing with your dolls."

"It wasn't uncle Hodgins?"

Booth grinned, "Unfortunately no. it was some guy that was trying to get to me for killing his father when I was a Sniper in the Army."

"Oh."

"Yeah…Anyway I never thought your mom would need a nursing home only two years after diagnosis. She told me she wanted to stay home as long as possible. I was prepared to take care of her however she needed. Then one day she woke up and didn't know where she was or who I was. She tried to leave the house, but I had the car keys in my pocket. She made it half way down the driveway and stopped. I went out and got her to come inside. By then she was kind of with it and knew me. The next day I took her to her doctor and started looking at facilities."

"Dad you never told us she tried to leave the house…"

"I didn't want to you to know how bad it's getting. She hasn't tried to leave here and she stayed in the house until they had a spot here three months later."

"Dad you should have told us…"

"Nothing you could have done. Mom didn't want to tell the three of you she had dementia, she was mad that I told you…"

"I know. She's happy here I think."

"Me too. It helps that I'm here all the time and she spends the day in the apartment with me. I don't think she'd be doing as well if she were in her room most of the time."

"Me either."

After Brennan and the grandkids got back from the pond and gardens they all went inside and watched a movie. Christine went and got Chinese for lunch and they ate in Booth's apartment. It was something that had happened frequently when Christine and Hank were kids and Booth and Brennan had continued the Saturday movie and Chinese food tradition with all of their grandkids.

"Today was really fun was almost like when we were little except grandma didn't make peanut butter crunch cookies."

"It was, your grandma enjoyed it. We'll have to do it again soon. Maybe everybody can come to Uncle Parker's and we can do a big movie day complete with lots of peanut butter crunch cookies."

"Cool."

After Christine and the kids left Booth sat down next to Brennan. "Did you enjoy the day, Bones."

"Yes, though it'd be nice if Hank and Parker visited too."

Booth tucked Brennan's hair behind her ear. "Parker didn't come this week because Lilly and Zach are sick. He'll come next weekend if everybody is healthy."

"Oh. What about Hank?"

"He and Julia live in Chicago we see them every three to four months."

"Why do they live there?"

"Hank went to college at Northwestern, he's an environmental engineer. He met Julia in a class they had together, they started dating and got married before Hank went to grad school."

"What does Julia do?"

"She's a change management specialist for Mars/Wrigley Incorporated, they make gum and candy. I don't know exactly what she does, but she Hank are happy with their jobs. All of our kids are happy with their careers."

"What do Christine and Parker do?"

"Christine is a Child Psychologist. Tim is an investment banker. Parker teaches 9th grade biology, Nicole is in his class this year. She likes having Parker as her teacher."

"I think Parker would be a very good teacher."

"He is. You talked to his classes on Career Day the first two years he taught. The kids loved you. We'll watch the videos of it tomorrow."

"I'd like to see them."

A few weeks later it was Booth and Brennan's 41st anniversary, Booth walked into Brennan's room and over to the bed and gently kissed her. "Bones, it's time to wake up and start our anniversary celebration…"

Brennan stirred and opened her eyes, "Booth?"

"Yeah, good morning, Bones."

"Good morning, Booth."

"Happy anniversary, Bones."

"Today's our anniversary?"

"Yep 41 years ago today you and I got married in the courtyard at the Jeffersonian."

"That sounds nice."

"It was." Booth noticed Brennan's morning nurse standing in the doorway and he helped Brennan sit up. "Bones, I'll be back in a few minutes after Pam helps you get ready for the day."

"Okay."

Twenty minutes later Booth found Brennan dressed and sitting in a chair. "Hey Bones, are you ready to go to breakfast?"

"Yes. The woman who was here before said I should give you this…" Brennan handed Booth an envelope, he turned it over and saw 'Booth' written on the front in Christine's handwriting. Booth opened the envelope and pulled out the card. He smiled when he opened it, Brennan had signed the card herself, her handwriting was shaky and a little illegible now but he didn't care. All that mattered was that 'Love Bones' was scrawled across the bottom of the card. Booth leaned over and kissed Brennan, "I'll love you forever, Bones."

"Love you too, Booth."

Booth looked at the card again and noticed Christine had stuck a note inside, it said, 'your gift is on the top shelf of mom's closet, in a green gift bag.'

"Let's go get breakfast, Bones, it's make your own omelet day!" Brennan laughed and followed Booth out of the room. After breakfast Booth headed back to Brennan's room "Booth, I don't want to go to bed yet…" Booth kissed Brennan's hand.

"You're not, Bones. I just came in here to get something for later."

"Oh, okay." Booth grabbed the bag and one of Brennan's sweaters then they walked to the apartment. Once they got inside Booth told Brennan who was in the photos on the end table like he did every day. After Brennan was settled on the couch he got out their wedding album and sat down next to her. "Do you remember our wedding, Bones?"

"Of course I do, Booth. It almost didn't happen because the church burnt down the night before. I was willing to postpone it until we could get married in a church because I knew how much it meant to you, but Angela was afraid if we waited any longer it wouldn't happen. She planned our wedding in a few hours. One of your Army buddies preformed the ceremony."

"Aldo."

"All of my interns were there in clothes Hodgins barrowed from an exhibit on the third floor…"

"Right. It was a crazy day, but it was the best day of my life, except for the days the kids were born."

"Mine too." They looked at the photo album. "Booth, why isn't Christine in our wedding photos? She's in the pictures at the reception."

Booth grinned, "Christine was going to be the flower girl but when it was her turn to go down the aisle she had a gigantic meltdown and wouldn't do it. We tried everything we tried bribing her with graham crackers, letting Parker walk with her. I even tried to carry her figuring she'd be fine with me that made her cry more. One of her teachers came and took her back to daycare until the reception. The bowl of macaroni and cheese Angela ordered for her was a huge success. After we danced she climbed in your lap and fell asleep."

"She was over tired."

"She was."

Later that night after having dinner in the apartment Booth handed Brennan a gift bag, "Happy anniversary, Bones."

"I didn't get you anything, Booth."

"You did, Bones. It's on the couch. Open your gift then you can give me mine."

"Okay." Brennan pulled the tissue paper out of the bag then pulled out a tube of lotion. "It's your favorite scent, Bones you like to use it after you take a bath."

"Thank you, Booth."

"You're welcome, Bones. Theirs a few more things in the bag…" Brennan reached in the bag and pulled out a few pairs of slipper socks and a small box of dark chocolates. Brennan smiled and put everything on the table. She got up and went over to the couch and got Booth's gift and handed it to him. "Happy anniversary, Booth."

Booth pulled the tissue paper from the bag and pulled out a pair of Flyers pajama pants and matching long sleeve sleep shirt.

"New Flyers pajamas, thanks, Bones. I love them, I'll wear them to bed tonight."

"You're welcome, Booth."

B&B

Two Years Later

Christine walked into Brennan's room, she looked up. "Hello Christine, I'm waiting on your father to come get me so we can go to breakfast. I don't know why he's late…"

"Mom, that's why I'm here. Dad died last night."

"No you're father said we'd go to breakfast and then go watch movies… you're father has never broken a promise to me in all the time we've been together…"

"Mom…"

"No I'm waiting for Booth, Christine…."

B&B

Three weeks later Christine packed the last of Brennan's things into a box on the bed. Parker put his hand on her shoulder. "You all right Chrissy?"

"Yeah, I can't believe they're both gone. "

"Me either, but they're together and Bones has her memory back… if Bones had gone first, dad would have died as soon as he found out she had…."

"Mom did too. As soon as I told her dad was gone I could see the light go from her. She hadn't left her room for anything since I told her. The next day her memory was completely gone. She just sat in the chair by the window and stared at nothing for the last 19 days."

"Dad and Bones kept each other going for the 56 years. Dad was completely different after he met Bones and started working with her. He changed again when they started their relationship, he was really happy and smiled a lot."

"They both lit up like a Christmas tree when they saw each other. Tim and I love each other a lot, but we don't love each other like mom and dad loved each other…"

"Nobody loves each other like Dad and Bones did, their love was one of a kind and will never be duplicated…"

"Yeah, you're right…" Christine handed the box to Parker and let the room.


End file.
